Re: Best program to make sculpted hair??

I do not think there is a "best program" to work with, but there may be a program that fits best to your way of working. And maybe there is a program which comes with better documentation and make your life easier. (Maya has been constantly reported to have the best user documentation on the planet (Chosen Few will probably give a more detailed answer on that ;-) )

Concerning blender: Maybe you can give some hints about what features you need for your work ? And what troubles you have with blender ? Maybe at the end it turns out that your original decision already was the right one...

Re: Best program to make sculpted hair??

I agree with Gaia that it it not really possible to say what is best. You have to decide for yourself which program is the best.

Another thing is that ALL 3d programs are complicated, and will take some effort to master. Of the budget alternatives - as in free - Blender and Wings3D are much used, and generally liked by the users. Other programs, like Sketchup, exist, but I don't think making sculpted hair is their main use. There is a vast user community out ther for these programs, so whatever you end up with, I'm sure you will find help and resources to guide you with relative ease.

Re: Best program to make sculpted hair??

This is one of those "ask a hundred people, get a hundred answers" questions. The only really true answer is this. The best program to use is whichever one you have access to, and that you know how to use.

As Luc said, they're all complicated. You're not going to get good with any of them over night. It's going to take time, no matter which one you choose. To put it bluntly, either commit to the long haul, or just don't start. The journey's a lot of fun, and very rewarding, but it's no small investment of time.

I love Maya, which makes it the best program for ME, for a lot of things. But there are plenty of other programs out there that are just as capable at doing the things I use Maya for. If you find Maya "speaks your language" like it speaks mine, then it'll be the best choice for you as well. Or if some other option, like Max or Blender or Lightwave or any of the dozens of other modeling programs that are out there, fits your way of thinking, then that'll be best.

The reason I use Maya for sculpties is not because it is inherently any better at making them than any other program. It just happened to have been the program I was already using when sculpties were invented. I use it every day in my work.

Now, as Gaia mentioned, Maya does have THE best included help documentation of any program in existence, hands down. Because of that, it's relatively easy to learn, compared with some of the other choices. Also, the entire program is based upon a singular underlying logic. Every part of it works the same way as every other part. So, once you get into the groove with it, you can intuit your way around quite effectively.

Start with the Getting Started tutorials in the help file. That's where everyone, from Oscar-winning Hollywood animators to casual hobbyists, begins. Go through the whole series, from start to finish, and you'll gain a really solid mastery of Maya's basics within anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how much time you want to put into it each day. From there, you'll be in position to approach pretty much whatever else you want to do with the program, with relatively little struggle.

Whatever you do, don't ever start any program with "I want to make _____ " in mind, whether the blank happens to be sculpties or anything else. If you put the cart before the horse, you'll only experience frustration. The only way to proceed that always works is to learn the program itself first, and then apply that knowledge to whatever it is you want to make. Master the basics that apply to everything, and then specialize from there.

Sculpties in particular actually compound the problem, if you try to learn them before you're ready, by the way. They're total oddballs, unique to SL, and the techniques used in making them aren't completely applicable to anything else. Learning to make sculpties won't help you become a good 3D modeler, but learning to be a good 3D modeler first will absolutely prepare you to be good at making sculpties, if you follow my meaning. Again, it's generalize first, then specialize. That's the only surefire way to success.